NEWS that the town was to lose another loo has been met with anger on our website and on social networks when we broke the story online last week.

It shouldn’t have come as any surprise, the district council held a consultation as part of its review a few years ago and were very frank about their plans to close our conveniences with a view to opening one brand new loo - which they duly did.

At the time we opened the question of whether the people of Ashbourne would rather have a smattering of broken, dirty loos or a single ultra-posh ‘superloo’.

That will now be put to the test as King Edward Street’s loo closes. Barring the part-time toilets in the Memorial Gardens the superloo is now all we have. And it closes in the early evening.

People using the buses who find themselves needing to make a quick diversion before popping to the shops now have no choice but to walk to Shaw Croft to relieve themselves.

However, they will soon have the option of hopping the short distance to the new Sainsbury’s. We’re not sure the store would be happy to promote that, but it’s an option for the brazen (or the desperate).

In the market place, where we will soon see the Union Street toilet block sold off at auction, the new Visitor Information Centre has smart new toilets in the town hall. Pop in, coo over some leaflets for a moment, and your problem will be solved. Again, not a recommendation, but if needs must...

The arrival of a football pitch off Mayfield road will see new life breathed into that corner of the town so the arrival of toilets that could be used when absolutely necessary (if not officially for public access) could be on the way.

So there are options during the day for the brave when they’re caught short. In the evening? Well there’s now only one option. We refer you to Peter Rigby’s cartoon below.